Egg incubator



Uni-ted States Patent [72] Inventor Albert F. Marsh 14232 Brookhurst,Garden Grove, California 92640 {21] AppLNo. 709,248 [22] Filed Feb.29,1968 [45] Patented Dec.l,l970

[54] EGG INCUBATOR 9 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.Cl. 119/37 51 lnt.Cl. ..A0lk4l/00, A0lk41/06 [50]Fieldol'Search.. ll9/37,44, 35,40,42

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 960,476 6/1910 Zimmerman119/40 962,594 6/1910 Sherman..... 119/42 1,635,901 7/1927 Oller ll9/352,470,046 5/1949 Napier 119/37 Primary Examiner-Hugh R. ChambleeAttorney-Noel G. Conway ABSTRACT: An egg incubator having a generallycircular horizontal vented support platform at a position slightly abovea base, and a plurality of spokes disposed in a circular ring with saidspokes radiating from the center of the platform, which spokes aredisposed slightly above the platform and are supported for movement by acarrier ring which is slidably supported by the base and is indexed bythe platform; and there is provided a circular cover for the incubatorwhich cover is removably disposed on the base for rotational movementrelative to the base, and there is provided means for transmittingrotary motion of the cover to said ring of spokes and thence to eggsdisposed on the platform between said spokes in order to turn the eggswithout opening the cover. Additionally, there is provided a heat sourcedisposed at the center of the ring of spokes and the heat source ispositioned to prevent newly hatched chicks from getting into a liquidsupply container within the incubator.

from a batch of incubated eggs, the temperature should be.

kept very constant. Additionally the eggs must be turned at regularintervals, These two factors make it extremely desirable that there besome means provided whereby the eggs within the incubator can be turnedat without the necessity of opening the incubator. Even though a heatsource can be provided which would rapidly build the temperature back upto the proper temperature, there would be a certain thermal shock on theeggs to which thermal shock oftentimes lowers the quality and quantityof the chicks produced from a batch of eggs. Additionally, if itisunnecessary that the operator continually open the incubator to turn theeggs, he is able to use less-costly heat control equipment, and heatsources having a lesser capacity.

Embodiments of the present invention incorporate the feature ofbeingable to turn the eggs without opening the incubator. Additionally, theparticular incubators of the present invention include a unique displayof the eggs relative to heat source in order to further equalize theheat to which each egg is subjected. Also certain embodiments of thepresent invention lend themselves to accomplishing the above desiredfeatures and yet lend themselves to economical construction.

With the foregoingin mind, it is amajor object ofthis invention toprovide an improved egg incubator.

Another object of this inventionis to provide an improved egg incubatorhaving the capability of turning the eggs within it without opening theegg incubator.

A further object of this invention is to provide anegg incubator whichcan provide for adequate ventilation of the interior of the incubatorwithout the danger of any draft of incoming air hitting the eggs. I

It is still a further object of this invention to provide an eggincubator whereinthe eggs are disposed equidistant from the heat sourcein order to further equalize the temperature to which the eggs aresubjected.

Another object of this invention is to provide an egg incubator oflightweight construction which can'be economically produced. 7

It is still another objectof this invention to provide an egg incubatorhaving an improved arrangement which prevents newly hatched chicks fromgetting into the liquid supply container within the incubator.

Other and further objects of this invention will become apparent in thedetailed description below in conjunction with the attached drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

PK}. 2 is a cross-sectional elevation view ofthe incubator in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view of the incubatorin FIG. 1 disclosing the path of the air entering and exiting theincubator;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view, taken along line4-4 in FIG. 2, disclosing the manner in which a portion of the incubatorturns the eggs when desired; and,

'FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view, taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 2,disclosing the manner in which motion of the incubator cover istransmitted to the portion of the incubator which turns the eggs."

Referring now to the drawings, the incubator preferably includes acircular base having a screen 11 disposed slightly above the base on aplurality of plastic posts 12. Preferably, the screen 11 is secured tothe top of the posts 12 by application of heat. As can be seen, thescreen 11 (called hardware cloth) has a circular shape and provides asupport platform with a plurality of holes through which air can freelycirculate. Disposed at the outer edge of the base 10 is an upwardlyfacing recess 14, which recess operates in a manner to be described.

Encircling the screen 11 there is provided a carrier ring, orcylindrical sleeve, 16 which is slidingly supported on the base 10 forrotary movement around the screen The ring 16 is preferably made oftransparent material in order that it will not obstruct the view of theeggs within the incubator. in FIG. 1, the carrier ring 16 has beenremoved for clarity.

Disposed within the carrier ring 16 is a plurality of spokes 18, each ofwhich extend radially from the center of the base of the incubator. andare connected at their inward ends to a hoop 19. The outer end of eachof the spokes 18 extends through a hole 20 in the carrier ring 16. Itwill be noted that the holes 20 are disposedslightly above the level ofthe screen 11 at a position where the hoop 19 will clear the screen andwill not drag when the ring is rotated relative to the screen. An egg isdisposed between each pair of spokes 18. Therefore, when the carrierring 16 is rotated, the spokes 18 engage the eggs at a very low positionto turn the eggs.

The use of the spokes 18 is preferred because they are very economicalto produce. However, other means could be used -to provide eggengagement sections which would'function on can be viewed withoutopening the incubator. Near the lower edge of the circular side wall 24there is provided a plurality of lower vents 26, while a plurality ofupper vents 27 are provided in the top 25. The particular arrangement ofthe lower and upper vents 26 and 27 respectively, will be describedfurther below.

Disposed at the center of the top 25, there is provided a handle 29 forfacilitating the removal ofthe cover 23 with the use of only one hand.

Some source of heat for the interior of the incubator must be provided.Preferably this heat source takes the form of a socket 30 extendingthrough the handle 29, which socket receives therein a resistance lightbulb 31. The resistance light bulb 31 illuminates the interior of theincubator and provides heat as desired. Also, the use of the light bulbhas the advantage that light bulbs are very cheap, and the particularstructure ofth e light bulb gives an additional advantage which will bedescribed further below.

In order to turn the light bulb 31 on and off at proper times, there isprovided a bimetal thermostat 32 secured to the cover 23 by a bolt 33.This thermostat 32 is mechanically adjusted 1 until it turns on and offat the right temperature. In order to observe that the propertemperature is being maintained, there is provided a thermometer 35,which, through the use of a bolt 36 is secured to handle 37 on theexterior side of the circular side wall'24. It will be noted that thethermometer 35 is located at a position where it is the same distancefrom the heat source (i.e., light bulb 31) as all of the eggs 21.

On the side of the circular side wall 24 opposite the handle 37, thereis provided a handle 39 which is secured to the said side wall by meansof a bolt 40. Therefore, by grasping the handles 37 and 39, the cover 23can be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise relative to the base withthe upwardly facing recess 14 furnishing a track to maintain the coverin proper relation with the base.

In order to interconnect the motion of the. cover 23 with the pluralityof spokes 18, the following means are preferably used. At its upper edge42, the carrier ring 16 is provided with a plurality of relatively largenotches 43/There is an even number of notches 43, and they are sizedsuch that both the bolt 40 and the bolt 36 will engage an upstandingedge, or wall, 44 at an end-ofa notch 43. See FIG. 5 wherein it isillustrated that movement to the left of the bolt 40 causes a likemovement of the carrier ring 16, and therefore, the spokes 18. Suchmovement would cause an egg 21 to roll as indicated by the arrow 45. V

The notches 43 are made fairly wide in order to facilitate the indexingof the cover-23 with the bolts 36 and 40 received in appropriate ones ofthe notches 43. Then, by grasping the handles 37 and 39, the operatorcan rotate'the cover 23 coun- I 3 terclockwise to turn the eggs 21 thedesired amount. Then, later, he can grasp the handles 37 and 39 and'rotate the cover 23 clockwise sufficient to move the bolts 36 and 4G tothe pposite ends of the respective notches 43, and then cause thecarrier ring 16 and the spokes 18 to be moved sufficiently to rotate theeggs Zl the desired amount.

It is desired that there be means to maintain the moisture contentwithin the incubator at a somewhat elevated level. To this end, there isprovided a hole 46 in the screen ill im mediately below the light bulb3i. Removably received in the hole 46 is a cup 47 having a circularupper edge, or lip, 48 in close proximity to the light bulb 31. The cup47 receives water 49 therein.

With this arrangement, the evaporation of the water is maximized sinceit is much closer to the light bulb 31 than the eggs. Additionally, thelight bulb 3i has sufficient size and it is so close to the upper edge48 that it efficiently prevents a newly hatched chick from getting intothe cup 47 and drowning. This isa problem in prior incubators.

During the incubating process, there must be a flow of air through theincubator. Air enters the incubator through the lower vents 26, asindicated by arrow 59. (See FIG. 3 in particular.) The carrier ring 16;formsa baffle, and therefore, the air travels up between the side wall24 and the carrier ring as indicated by arrow'5ll. After the air risespast the top of the ring 16, the path of the air tends to curve downwardsince the air is coolerthan the other air already in the incubator.However, since the upper edge ofthe ring 16 is substantially above thelevel of the top of the eggs 21, the air doesnt hit the eggs until afterthere is a general mixing of the incoming air with the warmer air in theincubator.

Air exits the incubator through the vents 27 as indicated by arrow 54.It should be noted that the vents 27 are disposed radially inwardly ofthe ring of eggs 21 (as compared to the incubator central axis on whichis located the light bulb 3i). Therefore, the incoming air tends to havea path from the outer side of the ring of eggs 211 to the inner side ofthe said rings.

While only a few embodiments of the present invention have been shownand described in detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the artthat such is by way of illustration only, and numerous changes can bemade thereto without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Iclaim:

1. An improved egg incubator comprising:

a base;

a horizontal support platform supported on said base at a positionsightly above said base, said support platform having a plurality ofairpassages therethrough;

a plurality of adjacent egg engagement sections spaced apartsufficiently that an egg may be disposed between each pair of adjacentsections and be supported on said platform;

a cover supported on said base and separating the interior of theincubator from the exterior;

means for moving said sections sufficiently to turn substantially an eggbetween each pair of adjacent sections, said last mentioned means beingoperable from the exterior of the incubator when said cover is locatedon said base;

a heat source disposed within said incubator;

thermostatic controlmeans located within said incubator when said coveris on said base for causing said heat source to tend to maintain aconstant temperature within said incubator when saidcover is on saidbase;

a liquid supply container disposed within said incubator, said liquidsupply container having an open mouth defined by a continuous lip; and

said heat source being positioned substantially closer to said liquidsupply container than said section, said heat source being positioned insaid incubator in such close proximity to said mouth that a newlyhatched chick could not get between the lip and theheat source, wherebythe position of the heat source causes the liquid supply container tolit IMHYS receive a more concentrated amount of heat than we locatedbetween said spokes thus maximizing the evaporation of liquid in saidcontainer and said position also causes the heat source to guard againsta newly hatched chick falling into the liquid supply container.

2. An improved egg incubator comprising:

a base;

a horizontalsupport platform supported on said base at a positionslightly above said base, said support platform having a plurality ofair passages thcrethrough;

A plurality of spokes disposed in a circular ring spaced apartsufficiently that an egg may be disposed between each pair of adjacentspokes and be supported on said platform;

a carrier ring disposed around said platform on said base,

said carrier ring supporting said ring of spokes;

a cover supported on said base and separating the interior of theincubator from the exterior;

means formoving said ring of spokes sufficiently to turn substantiallyan egg between each pair of adjacent spokes, said last mentioned meansincluding interconnecting means on said cover engaging said ring suchthat when said cover is rotated said carrier ring is rotated and saidspokes are rotated causing said spokes to be moved horizontally relativeto said support platform to rotate eggs disposed between said spokes;

a heat source disposed within said incubator; and

thermostatic control means located within said incubator when said coveris'on said base for causing said heat source to tend to maintain aconstant temperature within said incubator when said cover is on' saidbase.

3,. The incubator set forth in claim 2 wherein:

said base is circular;

an upstanding cup is disposed at the center of the base and is adaptedto receive therein water, said cup having an opening at its upper sideformed by an upper edge; and

said heat source has sufficient size to substantially cover said'openingin the cup to prevent any chick from getting into the cup.

4. The incubator set fprth ing cup is removable. I

5. The incubator set forth in claim 2 wherein:

said base is circular;

said carrier ring includes an upstanding cylindrical wall rotatablydisposed onsaid base, said wall supporting said ring slightly above saidplatform; and

said interconnecting means includes a portion of said cover whichcooperates with a portion of said upstanding wall to impart any rotarymovement of the cover to said wall and thence to said ring.

6. The incubator set forth in claim 2 wherein:

said base is circular;

said cover has a generally circular outer wall;

said ring is circular; and

said heat source is located within the incubator above the center of thebase.

7. The incubator set forth in claim 2 wherein:

said carrier ring includes a circular upstanding wall rotatablysupported on said base, said wall being substantially solid and havingan upper edge located above the support platform a distance slightlygreater than the diameterof an egg;

said cover has a generally circular side wall and a top extending acrossthe incubator from the top of said side wall; and

a plurality of lower vents are provided in said circular side wall at aposition below the level ofthe upper edge of said circular upstandingwall, and a plurality ofupper vents in the top of the cover, whereby airentering the first mentioned lower vents will be deflected by saidupstanding wall away from eggs disposed between said spokes.

The incubator set forth in claim 7. wherein:

said support platform has a circular outline;

in claim 3 wherein said upstandsaid base is circular;

said heat source is disposed above the center of said base;

said ring is circular with a predetermined diameter and is centered onthe center of said base; and

said thermostatic control means is disposed at a position locatedjustabove said ring

